Saturday, March 22, 2014

Qiang Huang Workshop - Day One

Last August, when I saw that Patris, owner of Patris Studio and Gallery in Oak Park, Sacramento had managed to sign up Qaing Huang for a workshop in March of the next year, I signed up immediately. I've followed Qiang's blog for several years and in that time I not only found a painter to admire and emulate, but a very extraordinary individual whose writings on his blog reveal a special soul...artistic and otherwise. You can follow Qaing Huang (pronounced Chong Wong, by the way) here if you aren't doing so already. You are in for a treat.http://qiang-huang.blogspot.com/
And you can find more about Patris and her active and energetic studio and gallery here:http://patrisstudiogallery.blogspot.com/

It was a wonderful three days full of art, laughter, learning and atching a fine artist at work. Qiang demonstrated a complete still life painting everyday, and I never tired of watching and listening to him explain and teach.

Day One:
After introducing himself and his wife Song, Qiang spent the morning instructing us on his five step process for still life painting. With his engineering background (he is a doctor of optical physics!), he has naturally spent some time breaking down and studying the art process and he has developed an easy to remember and follow road map for still life, and I suspect, any other subject matter. It's too involved to explain here....not to mention that it's HIS process....but during his demonstration on the first day, he literally showed us each and every step from accurate placement of objects to establishing values and final modeling and refinement.

I followed his demonstration in the afternoon with my own effort. Patris had established enough 'stations' that we each could set up our own still life subject with only one other painting partner. I found that the process Qiang taught and demonstrated was a very natural progression. Some of it I had already been doing thanks to the outstanding online instruction I received from Dan Edmondson. Taking that background from Dan and adding Qiang's own processes and insights felt comfortable. I don't mean to say it was easy or that I had instant success....far from it! But it all made sense and was easy to follow the concept.

This is my still life from day one....

Green Wine Bottle with Oranges 12" x 9" Oil on RayMar canvas panel

At the end of the day, I felt tired and elated at the same time. What a special day it was! Thanks Qiang and Patris!

6 comments
:

Qiang Huang's workshop must have been an excellent painting opportunity. Your painting is beautiful. I went to Qiang's blog site and enjoyed seeing the paintings he did as demos for the three days. Amazing works.

If you ever get the opportunity, don't pass it up! Qiang lives in Texas so he doesn't get out my way for workshops a lot, so I jumped on the chance. If nothing else, I recommend following his blog. Thank you for your kind comments.

Great work Bruce! I'm very jealous that you had the privilege to attend, but thanks for putting up your notes for those of us unable to make it. A great post and great blog generally, thanks for sharing!

About Me

At the age of 60 - or a little before - I began to paint again after a 30 year hiatius. Welcome to my art blog, the journal of a struggling artist who has just started to understand how much there is to learn...and how little I know. You're welcome to look over my shoulder as I go to workshops, discover new artists to admire, find new books on technique and struggle with each new painting I attempt. Now a few years into my 'reawakening', I may occasionally wander back in time to discuss earlier lessons, then abruptly jump back to the present. Hope it makes sense. Bear with me, if you will while I try to Keep Painting!